How To REALLY Switch Off And Relax This Christmas

While Christmas is supposed to be a period of celebration and happiness, Its no secret that the whole Christmas period is very stressful. The pressure of finding the perfect gifts, making the perfect Christmas dinner and ensuring there are no family arguments can often get on top of us.

However, allowing yourself to fully switch off from work, relax and enjoy the Christmas period is extremely important for your mental and physical health. Not taking enough time to yourself to relax can cause anxiety and stress which will not only ruin the time you’re supposed to be enjoying with your family but it will eventually affect your productivity.

To help you fully switch off from work and not spend the whole day stressing over insignificant issues, we’re sharing our top tips on how to allow yourself to relax this Christmas:

1. Plan ahead

A really useful way to reduce the chaos of Christmas day is to plan ahead! Make a list of everything you need to do for Christmas in advance. For example, what food and decorations do you need to buy? Who do you need to buy presents for? What are those presents? Have you planned seating and travel arrangements? Be as detailed as possible!

Its also beneficial to think about the tasks that don’t have to be left until the big day - wrapping presents, buying the food and baking the cake can all be done a couple of days before. Once you have written down everything you need to get done, delegate tasks to the rest of the family. It's always handy to have an extra pair of hands!

2. Budget

To avoid stressing about the financial aspect of Christmas, set yourself a budget in advance. Make a list of everything you need to by and who you need to buy for and divide your budget between each thing/person. This way you will know how much you are spending and won’t be stressing about being short for cash in the New Year. For more tips, read our blog post on How to budget for Christmas.

3. Step away from technology

Ok so let’s face it, none of us will be going completely technology free this Christmas. We all love taking photos, messaging friends and family and having a look what everyone else is up to over the festive period! BUT, the minute you start doing ‘work related’ browsing, your stress levels will rise. So put away your laptop, delete the email app from your phone and set up your ‘out of office’, this is a no work zone!

4. Avoid drinking too much alcohol

Yes it’s Christmas and drinking alcohol is inevitable. But, drinking too much can cause you to act aggressively or unpleasantly, dampen your mood and make it hard for you to handle stressful situations. This will only heighten any minor problems that occur and cause you more stress (particularly if that one relative you’d rather not see will be attending the Christmas dinner this year!)

5. Enjoy the time with your family

Lastly, to take your mind away from any stress, really focus on enjoying this time with your family and appreciate not having your usual work commitments. Don’t take this time for granted, do what really makes you happy even if it means shaking up your usual day to day routine! Stay up late, go out for dinner, sleep in in the mornings, leave the tidying up until tomorrow! This is a time to relax and enjoy your time with your loved ones, living in the moment and not worrying about household chores or work will allow you to do this!

Do you have any tips to stay organised and avoid over-stressing at Christmas? We’d love to hear them!

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